My Secret Snowflake: the Comic Premise

A question I sometimes get asked is how did I come up with the comic premise for my romantic comedy, in this case, My Secret Snowflake.

How did I come up with the premise for My Secret Snowflake?

The premise for My Secret Snowflake was inspired by a conversation with a close friend when we were discussing dating. The original premise was that the protagonist likes a guy (we’ll call him A). She pretends that she is the Secret Santa for A’s best friend (B for Best friend) and asks A what she should gift B. She uses this excuse to hang out with A.

Anyway, I pitched this idea for a Romantic Comedy in a Steve Kaplan comedy workshop in 2021. If you want to write a comedy, I highly recommend his workshop and books, including The Comic Hero’s Journey and The Hidden Tools of Comedy.

We had to pitch three different stories. Steve said he liked this one, but I should switch it so that she likes B, but as she hangs out with A trying to find out more about B, she falls for A. Then you have a triangle. I was very resistant at first (in my head). Didn’t he see the brilliance of the original idea that she had an excuse to hang out with the guy she liked? 

But when it came time to actually write My Secret Snowflake, I realized that Steve was right. This is a much better approach because it creates more tension.

So in My Secret Snowflake, Iris, having caught her ex cheating, decides she wants to date a nice guy next time (no heart-melting gorgeous guys for her, thank you very much). She decides that her workplace colleague, Ernest, might fit the bill. In the company Secret Snowflake exchange, she gets her best friend’s crush, so she gives that one to her best friend. Her best friend received Ernest, so Iris gets Ernest. Ernest and Sebastian eat lunch together every day so Iris thinks that they’re close friends and asks Sebastian for gift suggestions for Ernest. Sebastian says, “Socks.” He continues:

“I’m not really friends with him. We just had a tight deadline on a joint project,” I say. “I have no idea what to get Ernest as a gift. Socks?” Ernest is very…earnest. When her face drops, I add, “But I’ll think about it.”

“Not if socks is your idea of a good gift,” Iris says.

Comic Premise

Steve Kaplan defines the comic premise as “a lie that allows the writer to tell a greater truth.” Steve Kaplan, The Comic Hero’s Journey at p. 38. What I particularly find helpful is his description of the comic premise as “the tool to excite your imagination.” Id. As he noted, once you have a great premise, the story basically writes itself. “The better the premise, the more the story writes itself in your head.” Id. at 39.

As for the lie, Steve Kaplan writes that “in the comic premise, we devise a lie, an impossible or implausible event.” Id. My books tend to be more realistic, but the lie in my comic premise is that Iris is lying to herself. Because of her bad breakup, she convinces herself that staid workaholic Ernest is now the type of guy she wants.

My premise above, unfortunately, didn’t have enough that the story wrote itself, but it did suggest a framework. There would have to be Secret Snowflake-related events and meetings with Sebastian to discuss gifts for Ernest. Similarly, it’s a holiday romantic comedy set in New York City. I had fun including some New York City holiday activities. As a result, Iris and Sebastian get stuck in a crowd near Rockefeller Center and can only inch along. 🙂

UK Romantic Novelists Association Conference

I just came back from the RNA Conference in London and it was so much fun. My critique partner, Giulia Skye, and I talked nonstop over dinner. I met another friend for lunch (where we discussed K-dramas). Then I was off for the three-day RNA conference at Royal Holloway. 

It was way too short. I love discussing writing and publishing and meeting up with friends. It’s a very friendly conference, and at every conference, I make even more friends. Here’s a picture after a night of dancing, so I’ll leave you with this photo of RNA authors Victoria Walker, Sharon Ibbotson, Ruby Moone and me.